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As Rep. Mo Brooks’ (R-Ala.) Trump-endorsed Senate campaign sputters and the Alabama GOP primary descends into chaos, Sen. Richard Shelby is making his move. Our Burgess Everett and Natalie Allison scoop that Shelby is “preparing to pour as much as $6 million into the race by transferring his campaign coffers into a super PAC supporting Katie Britt,” his former aide who is running for the Senate seat.“‘I’m going to give it all away sooner or later. I’m going to help her, transfer it to a super PAC,’ said Shelby, who has nearly $10 million in his campaign account and more than $6 million in a separate leadership PAC. He added that Britt is ‘doing well right now. Mo Brooks is dropping, you see that.’”Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive: How Democrats alienated the woman who helped them win the HouseRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio. 

No one was surprised by the request: a no-fly zone — and if not that, then access to those Soviet-style fighter jets in Poland that could help them “close the sky.” But if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's  — who has risen to almost folk-legend status in the eyes of Congress, and who clearly did his homework, invoking 9/11, Martin Luther King Jr. and Pearl Harbor in one 16-minute address — thought his message would immediately elicit the changes he wanted, he was wrong. At least so far. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address Congress virtually at 9 am this morning.The headlines will likely focus on the red lines that President Joe Biden won’t cross: Zelenskyy’s request for a no-fly zone, and the transfer of Polish MiGs.But the debate has shifted. Betsy Woodruff Swan interviews Daniel Vajdich, a longtime lobbyist for Ukrainian interests, who says “he has consulted with Zelenskyy’s advisers about the speech.”“Zelenskyy is going to express gratitude to the U.S. for what it’s done to support Ukraine and punish Russia, but he’s also going to name and shame, or at least shame, and rightly so,” he tells Betsy.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy will speak to Congress virtually. According to one person with knowledge of the address, he plans “to name and shame,” meaning excoriating the West for not doing enough to defend his country, though he will balance his remarks with some gratitude for what has been provided. WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia and Siobhan Hughes report that it was Zelenskyy who asked Congress to speak. Few world leaders have the kind of moral authority that Zelenskyy has to push Congress. A week ago Saturday, when he addressed members of Congress privately, his pleas for assistance produced a flurry of congressional requests to the Biden administration. The Ukrainian aid package zipping through Congress ballooned in the following days.Tougher sanctions, advanced air defense weapons, airplanes from Poland, and a no-fly-zone are all still on Zelenskyy’s wish list. His advocates in Washington — lobbyists and members of Congress — told Playbook they have tried to push his government to deemphasize the no-fly zone, which has been repeatedly ruled out by Biden, and focus on beefed up defense assistance that is more achievable, such as S-300 surface-to-air missiles. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Something unusual has happened in Washington since Russia invaded Ukraine. Congress — which typically takes a back seat on foreign policy matters — has driven the White House beyond its comfort zone with bipartisan demands for more assertive policies.  It started with calls for tougher sanctions, then escalated to an appeal for a larger military and humanitarian assistance package. Members of both parties then clamored for a U.S. ban on Russian oil, which the White House saw as politically risky given the effect on gas prices at home. And they insisted that the U.S. end permanent normal trade relations with Russia.The tactics have worked. And this week, lawmakers will be at it again — this time nudging the Biden administration to go further than it wants in facilitating the transfer of fighter jets from Poland to Ukraine.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

At a Thursday lunch in the New York Times Washington bureau, upset reporters pressed executive editor Dean Baquet about a recent sting operation targeting national security reporter Matthew Rosenberg, according to two people present.Project Veritas, a group that has singled out journalists and Democrats in undercover operations, posted a pair of videos this week showing Rosenberg divulging details about sensitive newsroom dynamics and disparaging his colleagues. Rosenberg suggested that the media was overhyping the siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, scoffing at colleagues who were there that day who said they were traumatized, and blasted what he called left-leaning younger Times reporters wrapped up in a “woke” culture influencing coverage.The videos immediately caused tensions to flare among Times staff, according to more than a half-dozen reporters who were granted anonymity to speak candidly. During the Thursday lunch, multiple reporters said they were upset about Rosenberg dissing their own coverage and badmouthing his coworkers.Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: The man fighting for Ukraine in D.C.Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Just after 10 p.m. Wednesday night, the House passed the $1.5 trillion omnibus bill, the first step toward averting a government shutdown and enacting Democratic spending priorities after more than 400 days operating under Trump-era budgets extended via continuing resolutions.But the party’s joy of the occasion was short-lived, as Democratic infighting quickly gobbled up the headlines and forced a daylong delay of the bill’s consideration.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

At 7:30 a.m., VP Kamala Harris departs for Warsaw, Poland, where she will be thrust into the middle of the first major standoff between NATO countries since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With tough sanctions in place, a Russian oil and gas embargo announced by Biden, and a no-fly zone ruled out, Zelenskyy’s desperate plea for the Polish MiGs is the most significant outstanding request from Ukraine. And after months and months of negotiating, and three short-term spending patches, congressional leaders released the text of a bipartisan $1.5 trillion government funding deal last night around 1:30 a.m.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

This morning we have a pair of significant Ukraine-related exclusives.The first is a letter signed by more than two dozen of the nation’s top foreign policy minds calling for a partial no-fly zone over Ukraine. The push runs squarely against conventional wisdom in Washington, but their missive will no doubt stir the conversation. Second, a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows that Biden is enjoying at least a slight “Ukraine bump.” The uptick — first documented by an NPR/PBS/Marist survey released Friday — appears to be real, though how long it lasts is anyone’s guess.Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

“Russia answers resistance with firepower,” notes the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen, who is in Kyiv now and covered the conflicts in Chechnya and Syria. “Rather than send in men to fight from house to house and room to room, their military doctrine calls for a bombardment by heavy weapons and from the air to destroy their enemies.” He added, “The depressing conclusion I’ve drawn from other wars in which I have seen Russians in action is that it could get much worse.”On Sunday evening, a senior Pentagon official sent Playbook an update on the Russian military campaign. The headline: While the Russians try to encircle and choke off major cities in the north and east, such as Kyiv, Kharkhiv and Chernihiv, they “are being met with strong Ukrainian resistance.”Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletterRaghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.